Strong surf washes over a section of a sand berm at Bathtub Beach in 2008. The Army Corps of Engineers held a meeting Aug. 14 to discuss possibly dredging sand from Treasure Coast beaches to replenish the shoreline in Miami-Dade County.

MARTIN COUNTY — Martin County resident Jackie Trancynger wanted to make sure her opinion of taking sand offshore Martin and St. Lucie counties and putting it on Miami beaches would be heard and seen.

“NO! YOU MAY NOT HAVE OUR SAND! DO NOT DESTROY OUR BEACHES TOO!” read the message on a lime-green neon poster board.

Her message was shared by more than three dozen people Wednesday who attended the first of two Treasure Coast public meetings the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hosted about using sand offshore Martin and St. Lucie counties for a Miami-Dade County beach renourishment project.

“I’m against them creating another ecological disaster in our area,” Trancynger, a 13-year county resident said.

During the 90-minute meeting, residents listened to corps officials explain Miami-Dade needs the sand sharing project because it has depleted its offshore sand sources.

The corps is looking at sites in federal designated waters off shore Martin, St. Lucie, Palm Beach and Broward counties in addition to deep water sites off shore Miami-Dade, said Thomas Greco, the corps deputy district commander for South Florida- Jacksonville District.

Similar meetings occurred earlier this week in Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Corps officials are looking at Treasure Coast sand because Martin and St. Lucie counties made the list of potential sources as both have surplus offshore sand in federally designated waters.

Corps officials said no decision has been made and the meetings are to inform the public that sand off their shore is being considered. Data collection on sand types is expected to be completed Sept. 17. However, the first draft of the report won’t be available until Jan. 29. The renourishment won’t start until December 2015, corps’ officials said.

If testing shows the sand offshore St. Lucie and Martin coasts doesn’t match the type found on Miami-Dade beaches, the local areas will be removed from consideration, said Jerry W. Scarborough, the corps’ chief of water resources branch programs.

None of those reassurances alleviated the public’s concerns.

Many in attendance nodded in agreement when Trancynger mentioned how the corps decision to release dirty, freshwater from Lake Okeechobee into St. Lucie Estuary has harmed the environment.

“No, I don’t want you taking my sand. The beaches are all I have left, until the algae comes racing down the inlet,” Trancynger said.

To replace sand lost during beach erosion, both St. Lucie and Martin counties get sand from state designated areas which are closer to their shores.However, county officals are concerned if they deplete that source they won’t have sand from federal areas to replenish it.

Martin County Commissioner Sarah Heard, who attended the Stuart meeting along with commissioners John Haddox and Anne Scott, urged the corps not to make Miami-Dade’s problems Martin’s problems.

“This is our sand offshore. This is sand we will need to renourish our beaches,” Heard said. “In Martin County we have gone to great lengths to protect our environment. Miami has went to great lengths to exploit its resources. Don’t solve Miami’s problems here. If there is a problem in Miami, solve it there.”

Haddox said Miami should use sand from its closes neighbor the Bahamas, which is located less than 200 miles from its shore.

However Bahamian sand can’t be used because a federal statute requires domestic sand to be used before using sand from international locations, Greco said.

Haddox urged residents to band with Miami residents and call their federal representatives to get their statue changed.

A second public meeting will be 6:30 p.m. Friday at St. Lucie County Administration building, 2300 Virginia Ave. in Fort Pierce.

St. Lucie County Commission last week expressed concerns about the amount of sand needed by Miami-Dade and giving away sand that could be used on its own erosion- prone beaches.

What: Army Corps of Engineers public meetings about using sand from offshore St. Lucie and Martin counties to help stop beach erosion in Miami-Dade County. Each meeting will host a presentation, followed by a poster session and comment period from the public.